Fukui Castle, Hilltop castle site in Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
Fukui Castle is a Japanese castle built on a hilltop in Ibaraki featuring multiple defensive structures and stone foundations. The site reveals the layout of its former military installation through remaining walls and ground-level remains.
According to the Edo-period Tōsettsu shishiro zu shi, the castle was built in 1334 by Kusunoki Masashige, though no record confirms he held the Settsu shugo post; the text may reflect legend. The same source places Hosokawa shugo deputies here, and in 1528 the castle surrendered to Hosokawa Harumoto's side after the Battle of Katsuragawa, after which it disappears from records.
The name Honmaru survives as a field name in the hamlet, alongside Jōgatani and Kamae, so the castle's compounds can be traced through today's farmland. The honmaru is a 50 m by 44 m rice field with rounded corners, its east and south sides dropping off as cliffs. A few stone-wall remains lie on the terrace 5 m below it.
The hilltop location requires walking, and sturdy footwear is recommended since the ground is uneven and elevated. Plan time to explore the stone remains at your own pace and take in views from the higher terrain.
The honmaru, the central compound, survives as a rice paddy about 50 m east-west by 44 m north-south, with rounded corners and cliffs on its east and south sides. A few stone-wall remnants remain on the terrace 5 m below it, and Muromachi-period roof-tile fragments were found in the northwest part of the ninomaru.
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